Help me plan out my new garage

[bdresch]

I've got a 20 x 34 garage sitting directly on dirt at the new house I bought. I was planning to raise it and put a footing/slab under it but am giving up on that idea and just starting over. This will give me the opportunity to build what I really need, not what was there.

1. I can go 4' wider, I am thinking of doing a 24' with 2x9' doors instead of the single 16' I have now. We have an SUV and a car, but I am probably replacing the car with a full sized truck in the next 2 years so the 20' wide is going to be too tight.

2. I was thinking about door height. I was always going to make it taller and put in an 8' high door, but I'm now struggling to figure out why I need it. I won't ever do a lift. I'm not going to have a jacked up truck. I won't need to park a trailer in there. So maybe a 7' high door is fine.

3. For the bay depth, can I get by with 20'? Right now I have a wall at 20' and a 14' deep shop in the back that will be used as a woodshop. 24' would be nice, but with the 24' width I can put my tool chest along the side. I would like to use every bit of length I have to make the woodshop deeper. I think I could swing 36' for the full garage length and want to use that extra 2' in the woodshop. Will I regret having a 20' deep bay?

4. My lot drops off at the back of my current garage so I need to add fill to add length. Can I get by with a floating slab on fill, or do I need to go down with a footing?

5. Can I get by with 2x4' walls? Any benefit to 2x6' other than insulation?

 

[pmiranda]

You know you can pour a slab inside a pole building, right? But since you really want to go bigger, it makes sense to just try to reclaim what you can and start fresh.
The extra width is a bigger deal than twin doors IMO. We currently have 22' wide and a 16' door and it's nice for getting in two cars with junk in the corners or for centering one car in the middle for plenty of working space around it.
Lifts (especially scissor-type and other mid-rise) are not very expensive these days IMO.
If you're getting a full size truck, 20' might get tight especially if you have any storage or work area.
If you fill, it has to be properly compacted every X inches. How far does it drop off?
Unless you're planning on storage above, I don't think you need 2x6. If you want more R-factor, you can just use better insulation.

 

[Al Bundy]

I wouldn't put a slab on top of fresh fill. Your questions are centered around what can I get away with. Start thinking about what you really want or you're going to wind up with a bad case of coulda, shoulda, woulda.

 

[JOHN 86GT]

Pictures and location would help .

 

[Charlie51]

Yes, you will regret having a 20 foot deep bay rather than 26 or so, and a 7 foot tall door rather than 8 feet, especially if you are driving a full-sized pickup truck.

 

[fickster03]

I wouldn't put a slab on top of fresh fill. Your questions are centered around what can I get away with. Start thinking about what you really want or you're going to wind up with a bad case of coulda, shoulda, woulda.

Very good point here.

from central Missouri. cattle man live like there's no tomorrow.

 

[bdbecker]

20' deep and only a 7' tall door will be very tight with any modern full size truck. Take for example the 2016 F150 (http://www.ford.com/trucks/f150/specifications/exterior). The shortest one you can buy is 17.5' long (regular cab, 6.5 box). Most are 19'+ in length once you start looking at extended or crew cabs. The same is true for height - 2WD models would give you less than 9" of clearance with a 7' door, 4WD crew models cut that down to less than 7". By the time you factor in the garage door opener arm, you might only end up with an inch or two of clearance (the issue I currently have). I would expect similar issues with the other truck manufacturers.

 

[bdresch]

I wouldn't put a slab on top of fresh fill. Your questions are centered around what can I get away with. Start thinking about what you really want or you're going to wind up with a bad case of coulda, shoulda, woulda.

I guess the questions being centered around what I can get away with is because these are the items I don't have enough experience to know if they are "nice to haves" or really needed. I've never had a full sized truck so didn't really know the full logistics. I have a compact car now so I've never had an issue with the 20' depth or 7' door. I'll try to squeeze in a few more feet. My main focus is getting the woodshop that I need.

On the slab, I will be getting with my concrete guy soon, but was just more looking at what to expect.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Al Bundy]

I guess the questions being centered around what I can get away with is because these are the items I don't have enough experience to know if they are "nice to haves" or really needed. I've never had a full sized truck so didn't really know the full logistics. I have a compact car now so I've never had an issue with the 20' depth or 7' door. I'll try to squeeze in a few more feet. My main focus is getting the woodshop that I need.

On the slab, I will be getting with my concrete guy soon, but was just more looking at what to expect.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Start thinking about what you actually want to do in the garage. Do you do your own auto maintenance or repairs? If you just want to park your vehicles you need far less space. If it turns into a storage area as most do, you'll need more space. It's a big undertaking, think it all through now cause in the end you can't just start over.

 

[bdbecker]

...I've never had a full sized truck so didn't really know the full logistics. I have a compact car now so I've never had an issue with the 20' depth or 7' door...

Sorry if I came across a critical, that was not my intention at all. I was just trying to give you a heads up since you mentioned that you were planning on eventually replacing your car with a truck.

Right now, I have a 24' deep garage with a 7' tall door. The only way I can get my truck in the garage (2003 F150, regular cab long box, no lift, 33" tires) is if I hug the wall while backing in. My wife has to spot me because I would scrape my topper along the garage door arm if I'm not careful. The truck is only 19' long, but once in the garage there isn't a lot of room for getting anything out of the back if the tailgate is down.

I kind of have a perfect storm of issues since I have a topper and taller tires. No topper, no problem. Smaller tires, no problem. You could probably get by with 20' deep and 7' doors if you only plan on parking in there when the forecast calls for hail or a blizzard. If you want to park in there everyday, I would go bigger because it would be annoying over time.

 

[bdresch]

I went to Menards and did their garage builder today. 24x40 with 2x 9x8' doors. That gives me 24x24 for the cars and 24x15.5 for the woodshop. Came in at $11k for materials with the options I want. What's everyone's thoughts on prebuilt trusses vs rafters? I'm going to close in and insulate the ceiling, rafters seem like they would give me more possibilities to store stuff up there.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[pmiranda]

For DIY, I'm a big fan of prebuilt trusses that come with an engineer stamp. It can simplify your paperwork down the road if you need a permit or something.

 

[KDXSR5]

My wife drives a 2008 4wd suburban (same size as a full size chevy half ton). Our garage has an 8 ft garage door. If it were a 7 ft garage door it would not clear with the door opener installed the way it is now. There is less than a foot between the opener and the roof of the suburban.

Along the same lines, our garage is only 22 ft deep. Once we get the suburban in, we cannot open the rear with the garage door down. It is also extremely tight doing any sort of work in the engine bay if the door is down. It was a struggle just to change the headlights last winter because I only have about 3 ft to work with.

I drive a 2006 4wd silverado crew cab dually, and it will not fit in the garage lengthwise. There are at least a couple of feet hanging out of the garage with the bumper touching the front wall. It is simply too short of a garage.

My advice? Go with an 8 ft door. It has become the new standard in the area I live in now anyways. There are several vehicles on the road today that will not fit with a 7 ft door unless care is taken to keep the opener as high as possible, or a jack shaft opener is used.

If I would have had a chance to choose the depth of my garage, I would have gone with 30ft deep. This would give me room to work on my truck with the door down, and ample room to unload groceries and such out of the suburban without having to leave the garage door open. I would have also gone 30 wide, because my current 26 wide is just too narrow. I feel if you have full size vehicles, a two "car" garage should really be 30x30, not this stupid 26w x 22d I have now.

If all you care about is getting the vehicles inside, and not working on them or anything else, then a 24x24 or 26x26 may suit you just fine. If you live in an area with nice weather year round, then a parking only garage sounds to be your best bet, as your focus seems to be more on the woodshop. You can do your car work outside, so who cares how tight the garage is?

Whatever you end up doing, good luck and keep us updated!

 

[bmes1982]

I built a L-shaped garage so only went 24' deep because all my workbenches, cabinets and work will be done in the corner of the L so it will be just vehicles in the 24' deep part. With a new F-150 crew cab, 5.5' box, there isn't a lot of room to walk around the truck with this depth. I would struggle to work on it if I had to do anything with it parked. I'd recommend going at least 28' deep for parking a truck or SUV and still being able to walk around them.

 

[bdbecker]

I went to Menards and did their garage builder today. 24x40 with 2x 9x8' doors. That gives me 24x24 for the cars and 24x15.5 for the woodshop. Came in at $11k for materials with the options I want. What's everyone's thoughts on prebuilt trusses vs rafters? I'm going to close in and insulate the ceiling, rafters seem like they would give me more possibilities to store stuff up there.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I guess it would depend on what you plan on storing up there. If its just a couple of boxes of Christmas decorations, trusses will be the easier/cheaper option. If you want a real attic/storage space, you are correct - rafters will be the better route. Just make sure you have them engineered to handle the heavier loads from the start.

Side comment... I think Menards "kit" buildings get generally good reviews around here for quality and price.

 

[26Red]

If your going to do two separate garage doors with a full size truck, make it at least 10ft wide. I can barely get mine in a 9x7 without worrying about hitting the side mirrors.

Or go do a big single door at 18-20 wide x 7. My neighbor has a 20 and its great. I hate my 16x7. its tight with a Cruze and ram truck.

Attic trusses would be a good option.

 

[Radix2]

I guess it would depend on what you plan on storing up there. If its just a couple of boxes of Christmas decorations, trusses will be the easier/cheaper option. If you want a real attic/storage space, you are correct - rafters will be the better route. Just make sure you have them engineered to handle the heavier loads from the start.

Side comment... I think Menards "kit" buildings get generally good reviews around here for quality and price.

I believe that you can select storage trusses in the menards kiosk - it is only a couple bucks extra, and will be built to store stuff in the middle section.